NOTTINGHAM, England — Josh Warrington set his gloves down on the canvas following defeat to Anthony Cacace in 2024 — it was over.
Fifteen years as a professional, a two-time world champion who proudly carried the city of Leeds through some amazing nights. All done.
And then it wasn’t. It’s never that simple. Three weeks later he was back in the gym with more to give.
“It’s hard to explain to people what it is, what makes you want to go back to it,” Warrington tells ESPN on the eve of Saturday’s rematch with Leigh Wood in Nottingham.
“You’re getting hurt and punched in the head and putting your body through so much. But I don’t know, mate. It’s a drug.”
If Warrington had walked away, nobody would blame or begrudge him. The first male world champion from Leeds, he put the city on the map in boxing terms, giving the working-class fans an icon of their own to follow. The title win over Lee Selby at Elland Road, the defences against Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad. The stuff dreams are made of.
But it’s the highs that claw fighters back in. The feeling most of us will never have. Emerging from the smoke with thousands cheering your name. Stepping through the ropes, just you, the opponent, and your fans willing you forward. Making memories.
“It’s exciting to be part of something that could be spoken about for years to come … You’re making history,” Warrington says. “When I set out, I never thought that anything like this was going to happen, but I’ve achieved some amazing things throughout my career.”
The humble fighter catches himself: “Blowing smoke up on my own backside! But this is why you’re part of it.”
And there it is. The boy from a part of the country many argue has been forgotten by the policymakers and elite in London, who dared to dream and had it all come true. No wonder it’s hard to step away.
But there is something else as well. The cold truth every fighter faces.
If not boxing, then what?
It’s a reality not lost on Warrington, although he hasn’t neglected it. “In my head I was done,” he says. “I was a bit lost because I’ve always had an idea of what I want to do after boxing, but where do you start?”
Warrington has business interests away from the sport, but he wasn’t ready to step away from the structure, discipline and routine that has been forced on him by boxing for as long as he can remember.
“You’re always looking three, four months ahead every year and all of a sudden … BAM! That stops,” he explains. “That routine just goes out window, the diet goes out the window, the schedule goes out the window, and you just become ‘a civvy.’
“I guess that scares me.”
Of course, Warrington hasn’t trudged this journey alone. Dad and trainer Sean O’Hagan has been with him through the highs and lows. If anyone would step in and say enough-is-enough, it would be his own father. But, in preparation for the Wood rematch, camp has been like travelling back in time.
“The entire camp, to be honest, it’s been like turning the clock back five years,” O’Hagan said.
O’Hagan himself admits that’s what he’s supposed to say, but the belief is that Warrington has one or two more special nights in him.
“For me personally, they’re always special nights” he tells ESPN. “We’ve been here a long, long time now. Of course we’re proud, we’ve put Leeds on the map, haven’t we.”
His face lights up when describing the moment the fight arrives. The hardest work has been done, now it’s time to dance.
“Whether we’re at home, away, it doesn’t matter where we are, because you get in that ring … All you’ve got is a little square, nobody’s got anywhere to go and you’re there and that takes over. Adrenaline gets pumping, your eyes are fixated on your opponent, you’re just going to go to war.
“So it doesn’t matter if you’re at home, it doesn’t matter if you’re away. You’ve got a job to do.
“I can’t wait … Special night.”
Indeed, another huge occasion under the lights beckons. The rematch has everything. Rivalry, tension, a storyline and, where Warrington is concerned, redemption. He believes he was unfairly stopped in the first fight with Wood. The Leeds faithful will now travel the 73 miles south to their rival city with the promise of another memorable fight and hopes of their boy get his hand raised.
Last one or not, Warrington will enjoy it, with a feeling he is content with his career.
“If I turned to a young Josh Warrington and said: ‘When you get older, you’re going to be a world champion twice and make so many great memories’ I wouldn’t believe it.
“But you do dream…”
